Building Multiple Income Streams

How To Make Money On A Blog

When it comes to life-style friendly occupations that are out there, blogging tops the list. A significant number of women and stay at home parents are bloggers. We’ve been discussing various ways of building multiple streams of income in order not to remain a slave to a job or business. With multiple income sources, you are able to enjoy life better and have the flexibility to do the things you really care about.

Before these multiple income streams start flowing with gold and silver, you have to decide what you want to be doing and put in the work upfront. This website is devoted to sharing some ideas of possible income streams.

Years ago, blogging was very lucrative if you knew what you were doing mainly because there weren’t that many bloggers. If you are starting out now, you’ll be competing with millions more. In and of itself, blogging may not make you much money simply because a blog is a platform for building multiple streams of income working from home. We will examine how to monetise your blogging platform more effectively further below.

Back in the day here in the UK, one of the best known bloggers was Martin Lewis who started his money saving blog in 2003 attracting millions of visitors and subscribers on a monthly basis. He reportedly sold his blogging website in 2012 for a cool £87M. His was not an isolated success, there are many more who create significant incomes from blogging.

So Who Are These Bloggers? Some Facts and Figures

The groups that make up the blogging community comprise part time and full time professionals; hobby bloggers; corporate (as part of their job); and entrepreneurs. Overall, 14% of bloggers earn a salary from blogging. The majority of bloggers are women.

iBlog’s magazine, Women’s Blogging Industry and Business Annual Report 2015 survey identified that many people do not earn enough to replace their salary. Whilst only 6% of women surveyed earned six-figure salary, 62% earned nothing in the first six months. Over time, this number starts to increase as the bloggers build traffic and improve their brand reputation.

Those starting out today have stiffer competition, however there are still opportunities to make money. In this article, we will explore how to make money writing blogs, most of which are tried and tested strategies, specifically: advertisements, affiliate marketing and selling products & services.

First Things First…

7 Ways to Build a Foundation to Make Money From Your Blog

The old adage states that money does not grow on trees? Where does it grow then – on hard work and diligence? Let’s find out.

Before you start, there are a number of things you should consider and put in place in order to increase your chances of earning money writing blogs.

1. Create your blog website

You first decide on the name, purchase a domain name and establish a website. The process of building a website is much easier nowadays and a decent domain name costs approximately $10 per year. You can build your website for free with a decent professional theme and hosting here. You may also check out other domain hosting companies such as Namecheap, Hostgators, Dreamhost, etc. ranging from $4/month to $20/month.

2. Quality Content is King

This has been a common adage for many years not just among bloggers but also any business that wishes to establish its brand authority through article writing. Even e-commerce stores write some content to engage visitors.

To attract visitors to your site, you’ve got to give them something worth visiting and staying on your site for. Therefore give them content that is interesting and most likely to solve their problems or start a conversation. Bear your visitors in mind when you write. If your visitors do not read your content, you are wasting your time because you are unlikely to convert them into customers. ProBlogger provides help with writing compelling content to monetize your blog.

3. Enlist Your Passion

Blog on subjects you are passionate about. Remember that blogging does not give an overnight success and therefore be prepared for the long haul. In that case, are you ready to eat and breathe the subject you write about on a daily basis over a long period of time?

Furthermore, when you write about something you are passionate about, it flows naturally and your audience will feel and connect with your passion. If it is theoretical and dry, that will reflect the audience participation and income stream down the line.

The primary purpose of blogging should not be about making money because your audience will see through it. Blogging about something you love takes the pressure away from making money straight away. The energy of desperation to make money is negative and will put your visitors off. Money comes at the right time.

4. Target Profitable Niches

Unless you have no interest in monetising your blogs, it’s always good from the outset to identify niches that will fly. What are people interested in that everyone else out there is not blogging about?

Lifestyle blogging such as hobbies, fashion, beauty and well-being are quite popular and have the potential to become lucrative if you are creative about how you use your platform. We will return to this later.

To discover how to find profitable niches and get higher advertising rates from the right niche, Niche Site Duel is a good resource.

5. Building Relationships

A successful blog or platform has a lot to do with building relationships. These relationships include your sponsors, your visitors, affiliate partners, other bloggers, your niche networks, forums and relevant membership sites to strengthen your brand and blogs. Build trust by being genuine and sincere. Gradually you’ll become the expert in your field.

6. Personal Development

You cannot give what you do not have and therefore investing in yourself is the best gift you can give yourself and your blogging business. By equipping yourself with knowledge and skills, you are separating yourself from the masses that do not earn much from their blogs.

As you invest in your skills, you know what is trending, which social media outlets are more effective. As you grow, you are able to share your insights through your blogs. You put yourself in a better position for monetisation of your blog platform. BlogHer provides useful conferences, which you may find useful and Wealthy Affiliate provides one of the best generous and comprehensive Internet Marketing training I’ve come across.

7. Monetisation

When you put the above strategies in place, your blog platform will start growing organically including traffic. The time has come to begin monetising your blog platform in a strategic way. Let’s go…

How to Make Money on a Blog

Over time, your blog platform will become more than a hobby and you transition to a professional blogger. Blogging is like any business and ought to be treated as such with all the principles of running a business and working from home in place. This is when opportunities begin to open up mainly because you have increased your knowledge and skills and therefore know how to harvest these opportunities. The list below is by no means exhaustive.

How to Make Money On Your Blog Through Advertisements (Ads)

Similar to magazines and newspapers, you can sell ad space on your blog platform. Ads come in the form of PPC/CPC (pay per click or cost per click). These are usually banners in the content of your blog or in the side bar. You get paid every time someone clicks on it.

CPM is another form of Ad, which works out at cost per 1,000 impressions. It is based on the number of people that view your ads. This form of advertisement can complement Google AdSense as your traffic grows.

The secret is building traffic and your brand reputation. Instead of settling for or pursuing anything including low quality ads, advertisers will be willing to pay to get to your audience.

As you are starting out and until you build huge traffic and reputation to negotiate for private ads, there are several ad networks that act as intermediary between you and advertisers.

These ad networks include but not limited to Google AdSense, BlogHer, Federated Media. Google AdSense is the most popular. Depending on your niche and by joining the right forum, you will find other networks that may suit you better.

Can you Make Money From AdSense?

Unless you have huge traffic, you are not likely to create a salary from these ads. To place ads on your site, it’s important to follow Google’s AdSense guidelines. Of course when you have huge traffic, you are in a position to approach advertisers directly and negotiate your terms and fees. In this situation, you negotiate what’s right for you and your platform. Compared to other income sources such as sponsored post, private advertising, direct selling or affiliate, the money you make from AdSense is small change in comparison. That doesn’t mean that it’s not worth exploring, if you are interested.

Banners or display ads are placed at the side, footer or header of your site. Ideally they should complement the content of your blogs.

If your site is not well established, then focus on other streams of income that will be discussed below until such time when your site is ready.

Advertising: the CONS

Many people activate their pop-up ad blocker, which will make your ads ineffective

Too many people are now in this business and therefore supply – demand ratio kicks in; advertising rates have declined unless you are exceptional

If you are not careful, your website will look spammy and cluttered

With too many ads, you desensitize your visitors who will ignore or may not even notice them

Ads may become detrimental to your site and brand.

How to Get Sponsored Posts

This is another form of advertising, which you negotiate privately as your audience grows. You work with a company and write posts about their products and services.

Remember that you are writing about a specific company and promoting their brand and products, therefore it may not necessarily appeal to all your readers. Better to keep it to a minimum in order not to alienate some of your audience.

How Does Sponsored Post Work?

The company would sponsor your blog to help to promote their business or brand. You get paid for publishing a content provided by the company or you write the content and provide a contextual link. It could also be in the form of guest post. With up to 10,000 hits a month, you are in with a good chance of attracting and negotiating instead of applying to companies to consider you.

If your niche is unique, i.e. you get to say or write about what nobody else is covering, you get approached by a company that likes the market you’re appealing to as well as the content of your appeal. You can write about or give reviews of the advertiser’s product or service.

Another way to utilize a sponsored post is when it is underwritten by the sponsor. What this means is that you write about any topic that you like but the advertiser pays you for the mention in the post as “Brought to you by…” You can also increase your income by selling sponsorship space on your videos, podcasts or newsletter.

If you meet the criteria and are interested in exploring sponsored posts, there are several media companies around but here are two you may start with: Lingia which is about storytelling and Weave Made Media. You can also find out more about trends by joining blogging communities and niche FaceBook groups.

How To Make Money On Your Blog Through Affiliate Marketing

This section is not a course on affiliate marketing but instead, another strategy for making money on your blogs. The basic principle of affiliate marketing is that you get paid a percentage of sales to visitors to your website who make purchases.

As an affiliate you are required by law to disclose your affiliate interest in the products or services that you recommend. It’s always best to choose those that you can promote, of high standard and relevant to your niche. Otherwise you will appear as an amateur and worse still a spammer especially when you spray your website with affiliate links and ads. Once seen as a spammer, you will find it difficult to get good deals, not to mention Google’s punishment!

The best source of better deals are through affiliate networks although you can always look up affiliate programs yourself by entering your “niche +affiliate program” on Google search.

Here are a few examples of affiliate networks but feel free to explore others that may suit you better: Amazon Associates, Clickbank, Commission Junction, ShareAsale. Do your own due diligence and decide the best option for you. Percentage of commission payments ranges from 4% to 75% or more in some cases. You recommend products and services to your readers and if a purchase takes place, you get paid, simple!

Like advertising, once you are accepted, you have access to banners, links, graphics, and relevant promotional materials for your campaign. You also have your code and unique ID, which you can use when you promote the product or service from that company or affiliate network.

Example of how to earn from writing blogs

If your blog is about marathon running, and you mention a particular type of running shoes to which you have affiliate link to, when your readers click on this pair of shoes, they are directed to the company website where they can purchase the shoes. You get a commission on that one sale. This cycle continues.

Note that the primary focus is not about selling the running shoes. Instead, it’s about raising your visitors’ awareness on various ways to attain their marathon goal through your content. Affiliate sale is the result of what you give out.

With good content, when your blog takes off, you are likely to be contacted by companies offering affiliates, sponsored posts, advertisements including Google AdSense.

Other Ways You Can Earn Money Writing Blogs

With your website well established and driving traffic, you may consider any of the following:

Selling Digital Products

These may include:

eBooks

Apps

Online courses

Domains

Audios/videos

Reports

These could be yours or other people’s products and can become another stream of income for you whilst your blog continues to establish itself as a brand marketing tool for you.

Selling Physical Products

Books

DVDs

Home-made or manufactured products

Conferences

These may include your products or merchandise. Make it relevant to your platform and listen to your customers instead of making your visitors fit into your product interest.

Selling Services

Virtual PA

Coach/mentor

Video editing

Photography

Article writing

There are many services that can be offered on a freelance basis. Again, ensure that these fit in with your blog niche otherwise it will stick out like a sore thumb and put your visitors off.

Selling Premium Memberships

Many well-known bloggers now sell premium memberships as a way of creating additional income stream as well as creating a community where people learn and share. This is not about establishing a membership site for the sake of it but instead, providing your visitors with something unique and valuable.

This list is by no means exhaustive otherwise the post will become an eBook. It is simply an overview of ideas that may help you to build multiple streams of income from your blog, whether you are writing as a pro or as a hobbyist.

Do you have other strategies for making money on your blogs? Please share your ideas and if you like this post, do share with others who may benefit from these ideas.

34 Comments

Great breakdown about how making money with a blog works. I like that you mentioned a few famous bloggers in UK and about the lifestyle issue. It really is a business but it’s also one you can do from anywhere which is a huge plus. I feel for anyone who has certain passions and loves writing blogging is the best way to earn great income potentially.

Thank you for your feedback and comments. Many people have a flair for story telling and although they can write a book, there’s something about blogging that is fresh, recurring and engaging. Don’t get me wrong, a book is great and an amazing income stream. A blog platform can actually sell that book and also engage people on a regular basis.

You are right, blogging is a flexible occupation that allows people to work from anywhere and in time position themselves to start earning some income

Thank you for your comments. I’ve used another website for blogging and selling my products and services and continue to do so. One thing I’ve not used it for is advertising because I do not particularly like seeing ads on any of my sites – personal choice.

However I include it in my post to give people as many varied ideas as possible because different things attract and work for different people.

When I started off years ago, I used PPC specifically to increase opt-in, which worked well then but now I allow things to grow organically.

I find a lot of different sites with info on how to make money from blogging but I really like the way you laid everything out. It is extremely clear and to the point. It sounds like you can be trusted and that the reader will be able to follow what you are saying, which is what a good blogger should be able to do.

Thank you for your kind comments and feedback. When I write, I like to invest time in it and asking myself constantly whether I would understand it if I was standing on the other site as a visitor to my site. I’m glad you found the information useful and easy to follow.

Hey Chuka, I have to say I really enjoyed this post! I just recently began a journey to become a successful and thriving digital entrepreneur, I just made my firsr website! I especially enjoyed the part where you said that investing in your knowledge is extremely crucial, that is very important especially for us, the more knowledge you have, the more powerful you are!

Thank you for your feedback and comments.No person who stands still increases their changes of success. It’s through acquiring more knowledge and skills can we give more to our customers and compete better in an every changing world.

I wish you continuing success in your digital business. Most things are now going digital and you are well positioned to be of great service to your customers.

Thank you so much for all of this free information! So many people I talk to always assume there is no way to make money online. My response is always “someone is” now I can redirect them to your site to teach me how!
Again thanks for sharing!
~Mike

Thank you for your feedback and insight. You are absolutely right, other people are making money online. I think what discourages people is the level of scam out there, which is in bucket loads. Out of every two people who have succeeded online today, two have been scammed in one form or another. Personally I was a victim more times than I care to count.

With this experience, it’s been my personal mission to find the truth and share it. Even if it helps only one person, my job is done! I thank you for your encouragement and wish you all the best in your endeavors.

Hi, Chuka. You have thoroughly discussed the different ways to earn money by blogging. Although writing is my passion, I have not explored ways on how to further enhance my writing style. But I am now about to embark on developing my writing skills through blogging. Your article has inspired me to pursue my passion for creative writing while at the same time be able to earn a passive income from it.

You’ve made my day! You are the reason I write this – to rouse the passion in people to use their talents to create an income stream. Thank you for your comments and feedback. As you continue to polish your natural talent for writing , there’s so much you can do. Not only will you inspire millions of people from your writings, you will also earn while doing what you love.

I wish you and anyone who reads this blog and feel motivated to use their writing skills, infinite success and lots of fun in your creativity.

Thank you for your comments and so glad you found useful information from the blog. As a matter of fact, while researching the subject, I came across someone who like you was interested in a particular small place, became the ‘go to’ expert and many local facilities like restaurants and visitor attractions started using her for sponsored posts. Needless to say that she is and continues to be successful.

You will do great with Wealthy Affiliate. It gives the level of grounding and knowledge that is not found elsewhere. I wish you great success in your storytelling business.

This is such a helpful post–the only way i really knew to make money with a blog was through affiliate marketing, and I know that’s a tough field. I appreciate all the hard work you put into this post, clarifying the different ways to earn income via your blog. Question: when it comes to sponsored content, how much traffic do you have to have before companies start contacting you? Or do you contact the company that you wish to review? Thank you for clarifying.

Thank you for your comments and feedback. Every field that pays reasonable money is tough and competitive. Giving great content and improving every time gradually separates the good and the great.

With millions of bloggers, you can see how challenging it is for companies to look for potential partners. So instead, many bloggers look for them and I gave about two examples in the post of websites that help find these companies. As you can imagine, you have to have a realistic brand and following to be worth their while because they would want to know that they are paying to reach a huge audience.

Having said this, it’s not impossible. Specialising in a narrower niche and being an authority in it tend to attract the sponsors because not many people are in that niche. Of course the niche has to meet the sponsor’s criteria. See my reply to John below as an example.

Thanks for the great info. I find there is a lot of confusion out there about how to make money online and it’s inspiring to see all the options in one single post.

I’ve started exploring about some of the options you present and I think I’m going to focus in one at a time, otherwise can be overwhelming.Do you recommend trying to implement more than one option at once?

I find that banners are a bit annoying sometimes, do you think it’s a good option to have them if you are just starting?

Thank you for your kind comments and I’m glad you found the information helpful.

I think it is always advisable to attempt one strategy at a time, test it out and if it doesn’t work, move to the next one. Putting everything in place at once will naturally cause overwhelm, which results in procrastination and inaction. Also, for the strategy to work well, it has to suit your niche and personality.

With regard to using banners and ads, personally I do not use them on any of my websites.There’s nothing wrong with banners, It is a personal choice. However, I know people who use them and have some income from that strategy.

My aim was to give people as many options as possible to suit individual tastes and strategies. I hope this helps.I wish you success in your business.

That’s awesome. I’m glad you found the post useful and will help you to move forward making money from your blogs. You’ve already started writing, which is the first step. It will get easier in time.
Best wishes

This is very good information, what I like about it is the fact that the information has been summarized quite well, because I have a 200 page book that I still wanted to read on how to make money blogging and here you break it up and summarize it, making it much easier to read understand and in the end practice.

Thank you for all this information, one can see that you really put in a lot of effort to put it together.

Thank you very much for your kind comments and feedback. I am glad you found my post a good summary of your book and will enable you to move forward and monetise your blogs. My intention was to give people variety, given that different things appeal to different people.

Thanks for your awesome and informative post. I really have no idea there are actually so many ways to make money just with blogging. Especially selling domain. I never knew we can make money selling domain. I learn a lot from your post. Keep on posting more good stuff. Thanks for the info.

Thank you for your comments and I’m glad you found the content informative. As with blogging, there are opportunities everywhere. Being selective and staying focused are important while creating other income sources.

There is so much excellent information in this article. I will be sure to return to this post in the future. The links to other resources you provide are also excellent. You definitely sound like you know what you are talking about! I look forward to reading more of your articles and learning more about making money online.

Thank you for your kind comments. I am delighted to hear that you found the post useful and informative. Hopefully you are able to use some of the ideas in progressing your business. I wish you the very best.

Thank you for your feedback. I appreciate your comments. Blogging is a source for creating multiple income streams as outlined in the blog including affiliate marketing. I appreciate you like affiliate best. To some people, their interest may not be in affiliate and that’s the reason we offer as many options as possible so there’s something for everyone.

Good luck with your affiliate marketing business and thanks again for dropping by.

Thank you for stopping by and for your kind feedback. I am glad that you found some of the content useful in helping you move forward in creating multiple income streams. We are all on a journey and so let’s make everyday a success. I wish you continuing success in creating great content for your audience.

Thank you for your feedback and insights and glad you agree with the various options I suggested. Wealthy Affiliate University is certainly the most authentic and reliable affiliate marketing training and community support.

I’ve been looking into ways to make money with my blog just recently and I really like the idea of advertsing. The problem is that Google Adsense seems a bit strict to me – I keep hearing about people being kicked off their platform!
What advertising platform would you recommend other than Google adsense?

Thank you for stopping by and for your comments. I think one of the temptations people have is to dive into ad sense or such like as soon as they establish their website. It is important to prove one’s credibility with Google before they would consider you a good partner; i.e. you need to start having a good flow of traffic, just as Kyle teaches in Wealthy Affiliate. I hope by now you have found a platform that works for you. Best of luck in your business.